A lowly shoe farmer has one week to make it big in New Cityville. His only hope: enter a ragtag team of misfits into the annual fetish competition. But can they beat the most powerful fetish escort agency on the planet?Credits: Actor (as Chet)

Join our technology tournament today for fame and fortune. In this 5-stage challenge, you'll test your knowledge of Rational software through a series of interactive videos. The first 100 entrants who successfully complete the challenge by July 31, 2008 will win a 128MB USB flash drive! (No purchase necessary.)

You think you have data management problems? See what happens to our developer, Justin Whitney, when he is presented with a large, mysterious (and dangerous) XML data set. DB2 Express-C saves the day for him and it can for you, too. Take back control of your build, production-ready deployment, and distribution of pure XML, even in 64-bit environments.

Adjusting images in video relative to each other is a task ideally suited to clipping masks. In this 30 second mini-demo, developer Justin Whitney shows you how easy it is to create a clipping mask for video using Microsoft's Expression Blend 2.

Wondering what to do with Windows Sidebar? Our resident Windows guru Justin Whitney decided to whip up this Windows Sidebar Gadget to show how easy it is to create a Gadget and tie it into dynamic content. Don't know what a Sidebar Gadget is? Then be sure to watch the video and read the walkthrough first.

Although SVG has been around for a while, its adoption as part of HTML5 has given it new life. To celebrate that fact, this series of walkthroughs has explored what would happen if the dead got new life as well, by building a Zombie Apocalypse Survival Predictor created almost entirely from SVG and JavaScript.

A lot goes into surviving the apocalypse. Or at least into building an HTML5 app, which may be more or less difficult depending on the app and the apocalypse. So far, in Part 1 of this series, we've covered static SVG elements—text, image, circles, rectangles, and, most important, paths. Part 2 dipped into some of the cool animation tricks that can be done without JavaScript.

The first article in this series covered the basics of SVG, an overlooked, underappreciated aspect of HTML5. While different browsers implement SVG in different ways, the previous walkthrough described how to create text, incorporate SVG images and build basic shapes such as circles, polygons and paths in a way that all browsers recognize.

As browser adoption of HTML5 continues apace, developers are finding more and more options for creating elegant, highly responsive UIs. In the case of Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) , what’s old is new again, and quite slick.

Before mobile apps were mobile apps, they were Web apps. In other words, as companies ramped up to full-fledged native apps for mobile devices, they created mobile-friendly versions of their websites. By putting the site icon on the mobile desktop, the user could experience an app that looked and behaved like a mobile app. Even now, if you open a site like Wikipedia or Craigslist on a mobile device, you’ll get an app with a clean UI that conforms to the dimensions of your particular device, gives you full access to the functionality of the site, but surfaces only that functionality most immediately useful.

The complexity of HTML5 arises not from the syntax, but from browser support and video encoding. Web developers are used to struggling with browser compatibility, but you also have wider-than-usual disagreement among browser vendors regarding codec standards. In order to build a successful HTML5 site, you’ll need to take into account how modern browsers like Chrome 4, Firefox 4 and Internet Explorer 9 implement HTML5 video Web standards as well as how to handle how users view video in legacy browsers.

The latest release of Web Platform Installer reduces the already dead simple process of installing PHP apps on Windows down to a single click. By handling all of the pre-requisites and configuration for you, Web Platform Installer, and Microsoft’s new web development offering WebMatrix, let you throw down even a robust Content Management System in minutes. This walkthrough takes you through the install process of one such app, Joomla!, and demonstrates the ease of use that makes it one of the most popular CMS apps on the market today.

Of all the powerful new features in Internet Explorer 9, few will impact your site as much, at a development cost as low, as Site Pinning. With a few meta tags and Javascript code, you can turn your web site into a full-fledged Windows 7 desktop app, giving your site more traffic and longer visits at minimal investment of time. This walkthrough covers the top features to add first and how to add them fast.

With Drupal 7, PHP developers now have the option of connecting one of the world's most popular Content Management Systems with SQL Server on a Windows platform. Learn how and why this has come about, what to look out for, and how you can get started using Drupal with SQL Server today.

With the Windows 7 SDK and the Windows API Code Pack, developers can light up their apps for Windows 7 in simple ways that have a big impact. This walkthrough highlights two slick features, Jump Lists and Libraries, then reviews how to take your new and improved app through a new and improved (and free) testing process via Microsoft Platform Ready.

Blending PHP with Silverlight may seem like an unholy union. First of all, Visual Studio still doesn’t support PHP development without an add-in. Second, you need a Windows box in order to run .NET code. But if you’re willing to set aside your trepidation, you’ll find that Silverlight development in Visual Studio has a lot to offer the PHP developer.

Microsoft has long been known for its love of developers. But with Windows Phone 7 they’ve upped the ante. The new App Hub takes developers from square zero – not just no app, but no tools or experience – all the way through publishing the app to the Marketplace. Here is a breakdown of what you get when you join, as well as some development tips to help you get your app certified quickly.

With the latest version of Windows, your users are moving into some sunny new digs. Take a look at four of the biggest new UI features they're finding and learn how to Light Up your application for Windows 7.

Building XAML with PHP is one thing. But to make it really sing, you need a good starting point. Microsoft Expression Suite isn’t just for .NET apps. Use Expression Blend to start your Silverlight app, then build it out with PHP.

The latest version of Microsoft Visual Studio includes a lot of new treats for mobile developers. In addition to new debugging tools and emulators, it includes the Windows Mobile 5 SDK, .NET Compact Framework 3.5, and SQL Server Compact Edition 3.5 out of the box, without additional installs. This walkthrough gives you the code and assets for a fully functional Hangman-style game called "W80 Words" (weighty words), which takes advantage of the new platform and coding environment.

Individually, Office Business Applications (OBA) and Unified Communications (UC) give developers robust new architectures in which to take collaborative apps to the next level. But together, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Combining OBA with UC (or vice versa) enables integration of federated data and line-of-business apps with human workflows using communications including contextual collaboration (human to human communications), anywhere information access (human to machine communications) and business process communications (machine to human communications) across any modality including IM, voice, video (both 1:1 and conferencing).

Think PHP developers don't need Silverlight? Think again. By dynamically generating XAML (Extensible Application Markup Language), PHP developers can buff their skills with some very cool Microsoft Silverlight tricks, adding a whole new responsive visual element to their PHP pages. This walkthrough goes through the details of building a simple Silverlight app just using XAML code, JavaScript, and PHP.

Microsoft's Unified Communications initiative brings together many software and hardware components to bridge the divide between phone and computer activities. This article describes UC from a developer's perspective, including an architectural overview, list of important APIs, and the best coding opportunities for application developers.

Want to get started with Silverlight and don't have a clue as to where your services should go? Have no fear. In this feature we'll walk you through setting up an account on Windows Live and getting your services hosted there, both for development and deployment.

When choosing a development platform for your product, it's time to look beyond the typical desktop deployment. Because of tight stack integration, the Microsoft platform offers market opportunities - and the ability to deliver new functional capabilities and the participation in a strong partner ecosystem - you wouldn't have previously considered. Here's how you can extend the reach of your code into new markets and what you, the software developer, need to know to go there.

With the latest releases of the 2007 Microsoft Office system, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, and a host of other products, Microsoft has enabled a new type of application, known as Office Business Applications. But OBA is a big, somewhat abstract concept, with lots of pieces. As a developer, it helps to know exactly what to install and where to plug in your brain. This overview gives you a starting point for understanding OBA and figuring out where to go from here.

The new Windows Sidebar gives users a cool way to run mini-apps on the desktop itself. In building the DevX Destination.NET gadget, Justin Whitney discovered some of the ins and outs of building a gadget. Here, he shares the process from start to finish and takes you on a guided tour through some of the trickier bits.

Wondering what to do with Windows's Sidebar? Our resident Windows guru Justin Whitney decided to whip up this Windows Sidebar Gadget to show how easy it is to create a Gadget and tie it into dynamic content. Don't know what a Sidebar Gadget is? Then be sure to watch the video and read the walkthrough first.

Moving your solutions online opens up tremendous opportunities in the Software as a Service (SaaS) arena. But to do it right, you need a database that can start strong, scale well, and fit your budget at every stage of development. Learn why IBM DB2 Express-C makes sense for your SaaS application, what it offers (for free!), and what you should be aware of when architecting your SaaS. Best of all, find out why XML, the lifeblood of any SaaS, comes naturally to Express-C and how to get native support for your highly responsive code.

Comparing MySQL and SQL Server seems like comparing apples to boulders. Database developers commonly assume MySQL is smaller, faster, and cheaper. A closer look, however, blows these myths out of the water. One database-agnostic developer digs deeper and finds that SQL Server can be the right choice, and in many scenarios the only choice, for any job.

2007 Microsoft Office system introduces a new XML-based file format called Office Open XML as its default file type. An open, royalty-free standard, Open XML gives developers a wide range of new opportunities, primarily the ability to create and manipulate Office files without using Office. We'll answer the basic questions, and then dive into what Open XML looks like, how it works, and how you can code against it.

The first app is always the hardest. When you're learning a new technology, you just want to get something to work. The problem is, walkthroughs always leave out crucial details, assuming you already know about important downloads or configurations. Not this time. This walkthrough will step you through every detail of building a simple mobile database app using Windows Mobile 6 and SQL Server 2005 CE. The only thing missing is your imagination.

You'd be surprised how much you already know about mobile app development. If you use Visual Studio 2005 to code Windows desktop or Web apps, then you have everything you need to get started in this fast-growing market. Find out just what you already know and how to bridge the gap between desktop and mobile. Also learn some tips for coding both mobile client and mobile Web apps.

Confused about Embedded? You're not alone. Even mobile developers don't always get exposed to the embedded systems running their apps. That's why we went right to the expert himself: Mike Hall. Learn the difference between the three...wait, make that four, embedded systems. Get advice on where to focus your development efforts. Discover the best opportunities for embedded partners Right Now. Best of all, find out what automated pig slicers and deluxe sewing machines have in common.

Part 1 gave you some general tips for multi-threading your games for n-core. For Part 2, we talked with experts in the field to get their take on real-world application of multithreading techniques, what they're using now, and what the future looks like for multithreading.

Every gamer worth his/her salt now has a multicore processor, or is considering buying one. So if your game doesn't thread, you're dead. Part 1 tells you about the sweet spots in multithreaded game development.

With an OS long prized by government organizations like the US Navy, US Army, Air Force Research Labels, the Department of Defense and many others, Sun has listened and learned from its government customers. Solaris 10 11/06 incorporates Sun's most advanced security features to date, many of which have been optimized for AMD architecture.

Rather than creating yet another Hello World app or dull accounting software to illustrate some basic concepts, why not use a real product to put these tricks into play and have some fun while you're at it? For example, the gaming classic "Doom" runs on source code that's now become highly accessible, yet is sophisticated enough to let you try out new programming techniques. The source code is free, and has been for almost 10 years now. Developing for multi-core processor architectures doesn't have to hurt.

GPU performance bottlenecks are hard to understand - unless you have the right tools. Let's look at a typical GPU performance problem and how to apply AMD's free GPU PerfStudio and GPU ShaderAnalyzer to get behind the scenes, and unclog that bottle.

As a developer, when I look at hardware advances, my first question is: "What does this mean for me?" Often, innovations in processor architecture mean more for OS or other low-level developers than they do for people designing end-user apps.

When you need to accept credit cards from your customers, your company needs to get a merchant account to process those transactions. Get the basics on the terminology, important features, fees, and the types of providers who are likely to meet your needs.

In this second installment, author Justin Whitney shows how painless XML programming can be and how creating a Web Service in Visual Studio 2005 using the DB2 9 Add-ins and interacting with those services using asynchronous JavaScript can make you a hero.

You can't escape it - XML is everywhere. From RSS to Ajax, XML has become the de facto standard for today's rich Internet applications. This walkthrough covers how to build an Ajax application from scratch using DB2 9's new XML functionality. You'll go from installing and configuring your free download of DB2 9 Express-C to creating Web Services in Visual Studio 2005 using the DB2 9 Add-ins to interacting with those services using asynchronous JavaScript.

What happens when you pair IBM's latest and greatest data server, DB2 9, with AMD's leading-edge Opteron architecture? You get a blisteringly fast data server platform that makes the most of advances on both fronts. Learn how DB2 9 has been optimized for NUMA and x86-64 architecture, and how it works with AMD 64-bit multi-core.

With the addition of "pureXML" to IBM DB2 9, database developers gain powerful XQuery functionality. For those new to the syntax (and for veterans seeking a faster way to build complex queries), the new DB2 Developer Workbench includes the Visual XQuery Builder, a versatile visual design tool for XML queries.

AMD CodeAnalyst may be known more for profiling native code, but Java developers get a few surprises, as well. In this walkthrough, you'll learn how to set up a sample Java app and CodeAnalyst project that show off CodeAnalyst's timer-based profiling capabilities.

The foundation of computing is rapidly shifting to multi-core. This means not only huge performance gains for consumers but also huge opportunities for developers who can make the most of multi-core processors. But what features do developers need to know about? And how can they best take advantage of hardware advances?

With the release of DB2 Viper, IBM has also announced the availability of the DB2 Developer Workbench. Formerly packaged with DB2 as the Development Center, the new Workbench, based on Eclipse, allows DBAs more flexibility in their development process and gives them a load of new toys to play with. This article walks through one of the new features: the XQuery Visual Builder.

Now that you have an overview of Visual Studio Extensibility, take a look at the way Microsoft itself extends the IDE: packages. You'll look at new features that help you add functionality faster and walk through building a simple custom editor of your own.

While multi-core technology improves the performance of any desktop or laptop system, developers can fully exploit the power of AMD Dual-Core processors through key optimization techniques. CodeAnalyst gives developers a vital tool for uncorking bottlenecks and taking full advantage of processor power. This article demonstrates how Visual Studio developers can use the Threading class to increase performance in a simple app, using CodeAnalyst to identify and measure the impact.

The latest in the evolution of DB2, DB2 Viper gives developers more power than ever for managing large amounts of XML. This article highlights DB2 Viper's key new features and walks through the import of a sample XML data set featuring your favorite bard, Shakespeare.

Multi-core processors are poised to become the de facto standard for desktop and mobile computing. How are you going to take advantage of them? Intel's new contest gives developers a full suite of free tools for building multi-threaded apps. Even better, it presents a compelling venue for experimenting in a way that speaks to the heart of the coder: games. Justify your addiction, learn to thread, win prizes, all in one place.

In this Buyer's Guide for Web Site Analytics Tools, you'll learn the industry jargon for Web Analytics and related industries, common features, which features you need, the major analytics vendors, some other companies worth noting, and the big players in the international market.

Visual Studio extensibility has never been easier. Use a variety of tools, such as macros, add-ins, and packages to customize and extend your Visual Studio 2005 IDE. This walkthrough starts by explaining the extensibility options available to you as a developer and then shows you how to create your first add-in in a few short steps, as well as how to build one from a recorded macro.

New consumer-level AMD Dual-Core chips are finally hitting the market through OEMs, such as gamer-favorite, Alienware, and consumers want to see how well these chips work. Benchmarking is one thing, but how does this new architecture perform in real-world use? A new Alienware user runs the Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core through its paces, with startling results. Read what he discovered.

IBM's new Rational Data Architect gives database administrators powerful new tools for visually modeling and documenting databases, as well as integrating federated data sources by creating mappings, discovering relationships, and building transformations. This article gives new users a top-level view of RDA and touches on some of its core features with a couple of quick walkthroughs.

IBM offers its first free version of DB2, DB2 Express-C. But what is it, exactly, and how does it differ from the other versions? This article gives developers an overview of the new database. As a bonus, watch a couple of demos of some hidden treasures of the DB2 family, including the Auto-Maintenance Configuration utility.

To finish the year off with a bang, IBM released a new DB2 Add-in for Visual Studio .NET 2005. This one goes way beyond procedure wizards and data provider classes, giving .NET coders so much DB2 Tooling that they can conceivably create apps without writing a single line of code. Take a look at the 30 top features you need to know about.

With the strength of DB2 stored procedures, the flexibility of PHP, and fast, easy-to-use PECL extensions connecting the two, Web developers have a solid platform on which to build some creative and powerful apps. In this walkthrough, you'll build a sample database from scratch, a multi-select SQL procedure with one IN parameter, and a PHP form that accepts a search criteria, executes the procedure, and displays the results.

With the release of Toad for DB2, users of IBM's DB2 will be treated to a slick and powerful new graphical interface that makes developing database applications a breeze. Get the scoop on Toad's major features, which ones you'll want to use first, what to watch out for, and how it all looks in action.

Visual Studio Tools for Office 2005 introduces some big concepts, with big implications, like the separation of code from view. It also gives Office application developers some new features and tools to work with, like improved Smart Tags, easy-to-make Actions Panes, and the new Object Test Bench. Learn more by using these code samples to build the ultimate killer app.

With the IBM_DB2 PECL extension, you have dozens of new functions available that you can use within your PHP application to access the power of this enterprise-level database. We describe here the functions you need most, with code samples to get you started.

Though the Zend/IBM partnership currently focuses on Linux and AIX platforms, Windows developers have some new toys to play with, as well. This walkthrough outlines the process of installing and configuring the necessary components for a PHP/Cloudscape solution. It also gives you some sample code for your first, simple PHP script.

DB2 Everyplace gives you the power of DB2 with the mobility of your favorite PDA platform. With its versatility and scalability, you can use it to create data-driven applications that either stand alone or synchronize with a variety of enterprise databases. This Introduction walks you through a typical scenario, demonstrating how DB2 Everyplace fits into your mobile architecture, followed by an overview of the key components.

The latest release of IBM's DB2 relational database system offers an unprecedented level of integration with the Microsoft Windows environment, making your job a lot easier. Here are some of the high points.

If you're a DB2 developer and don't use stored procedures, or worse you don't know how, then you're missing out on one of its best features. This walkthrough gets you started by stepping through the creation of a simple SQL Procedure.

Like an old horse, Visual Basic for Applications has served Office developers well for many years. But there's a stronger, faster pony on the way and it's called Visual Studio Tools for Office 2005. Justin Whitney provides nine solid reasons for giving VSTO 2003 a close look, plus a special sneak peek at four new programming features that you'll find in VSTO 2005.

Whether you're a SQL junkie, a Micronaut, or a devotee of some classic programming language, IBM's DB2 gives you the tools you need to create powerful stored procedures. But if you're new to them, don't be overwhelmed. This introduction gives you an overview and description of how they work within DB2. You'll learn when to use them, when not to use them, and what they look like, both within the stored procedure itself and as called from an application.

Java developers should be in an especially good position to rework their desktop applications for smaller devices. Because of the radically different form factors, of course, there are a few decisions you should make before tackling the task.

Forget porting - write a single code base, then extend it for deployment across multiple devices! Here are techniques, tips, and gotchas for using Visual Studio .NET to code for both .NET and .NET CF, thus extending your app across multiple devices. You'll learn some key considerations, some architectural techniques, and also a few tools available to help optimize for several devices at once.

Amid the growing rumble of attention surrounding Microsoft's .NET strategy, a clear voice has called out to lead the way to a world of shared services. That voice belongs to Passport. But is it the voice of hope or merely speaking in tongues?

...When Justin Whitney moved to the Duboce Triangle, he introduced himself to the San Francisco neighborhood by walking into the black night to see what was there in the way of diners and coffee shops...